How the title “Expat Psychologist” was born
Founded in 2009 — the story behind Expat Psychologist
How it began. When I arrived in the Netherlands over a decade ago, a Dutch colleague mentioned something that stuck with me: there was no practice specifically dedicated to supporting expats. “Why don’t you start one?” she said. “You have both the education and the expat experience these people need.”
At the time, I’d already lived in several countries myself — navigating new languages, new systems, and the particular kind of situations that comes with starting over, more than once. Combining that experience with my education in psychology, I realized I could offer something that didn’t really exist yet: therapy built around the specific realities of expat life, rather than therapy that happened to be available in English.
And that’s how the title “Expat Psychologist” was born. Shortly after, I set up my own practice in the Netherlands — the first of its kind — because I felt that, as an expat myself, this was exactly the right way to build something that genuinely helps.
Who we work with
Today, Expat Psychologist supports not only expats themselves, but their partners and children too. Our clients come from a huge range of backgrounds — ambassadors and embassy staff, international students, professionals at global companies, NGOs, and UN organization’s — each arriving with their own story, their own language, and their own version of what it means to feel “at home,” or not.
What hasn’t changed
What’s grown over the years is the team, the locations, and the range of services. What hasn’t changed is the goal we started with: to always be there for the expat community, so people know that help — real, understanding, evidence-based help — is available whenever they need it.
How we’ve grown
What started as a single title — Expat Psychologist — has grown into a leading international practice trusted by expats across the world. Over 15 years, we have supported thousands of internationally mobile individuals, and we continue to grow. Our mission remains exactly what it was on day one: to make sure that wherever you are in the world, expert psychological support is within reach.
Building something like this has meant a lot of listening — to clients, to colleagues, to my own experience of what it felt like to need this kind of support and not find it. If you’re navigating life abroad and something feels harder than it should, we’d be glad to talk.
